Goldfinch
by Copiel
Summary: On one fateful mission, the Team meets a hero called Goldfinch, who knows the identities of all of the members of the Justice League and the Team. Over the course of time, the Team will try to unravel her mysterious past, which could explain her deep connections with a new villain. POST INVASION
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I am really sorry about any confusion I've caused. I WILL be updating this story, but updates will take a while, since I'm sort of busy and can't find much time to sit down and type. Again, I'm sorry. By the way: thanks for reading!**

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><p>"Kaldur!" Bart's voice rang throughout the halls of the Watchtower. Robin rolled his eyes. He knew where this was going. "Kaldur, I'm so bored! Isn't there anything we can do?"<p>

Kaldur sighed. "I don't know, there haven't been any missions lately."

"Please?" Bart asked, giving Kaldur puppy-dog eyes. "Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-"

"Alright!" Kaldur snapped, giving in to Bart. "I'll take a look, and I'll let you know if anything comes up."

"Great!" Bart said, smiling at Kaldur. "Hey, Robin! When he comes back with a mission, do you want to go with me?"

Robin sighed. He knew Bart wouldn't take no as an answer. "Sure."

"Yes!" Bart sped off, probably looking for more teammates to drag into his mission.

A few minutes later, Bart had rounded up a squad of five people: himself, Robin, Blue Beetle, Static, and Beast Boy. "So, where are we going, exactly?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't have a clue. Wherever Kaldur send us, I guess," said Bart.

"I could care less about where we're going, as long as we're going on a mission," said Static. "I've been itching to shock some baddies for a while now!" Everyone else on the squad laughed, but abruptly stopped as Kaldur came around the corner.

"I have a mission for you." No one said a word, not even Bart, in anticipation for the mission. "There have been multiple drug shipments going on in King City for the past few months. There is going to be another one tonight. I'm giving you coordinates. You will be taking the Bio-ship, which Robin will be piloting."

"Aw, man! Why does he always get to drive that thing?" whined Bart.

"I'm the only one here who actually knows how to pilot the Bio-ship," said Robin.

Kid Flash groaned, but didn't continue arguing.

The squad climbed into the Bio-ship, and got into their seats, the seatbelts automatically wrapping around them.

"Plugging in the coordinates, and here we go!" Robin said as the Bio-ship took off from the Watchtower.

After a while, they were coming in on their coordinates. "An old, creepy, abandoned warehouse?" said Beast Boy. "Why do all the bad guys choose warehouses?"

Robin, choosing to ignore Beast Boy's question, took control over the situation. "Everybody, get into stealth mode. We're going to sneak in through the rafters."

Everyone got their suits into stealth mode, and then they went up onto the roof. Beast Boy turned into a small bird, Kid Flash ran up the side of the building, Blue Beetle flew, Static used his metal disk, and Robin did some kind of flip to get himself up.

Even before they were in the warehouse, Robin could tell something was up. The sounds of people getting beaten up were coming from inside the building. Robin held a finger up to his lips, to signal his squad to be silent. They crept into a hole in the roof large enough for all of them to squeeze through.

Robin had expected some kind of battle between two different drug lords and their henchmen. Instead, he was surprised to see a girl, tiny in comparison to the men she was fighting. She had on black leggings, a black long-sleeved shirt, a short yellow mini-skirt that stretched whenever she kicked, yellow combat boots, yellow gloves, and a cape that was black on the outside but had yellow lining on the inside. In the center of her chest was a yellow diamond with a diamond-shaped G on it. In her curly blonde hair was a black headband that held back all of her hair, except for her side bangs, which were on the right side of her face, and came down just below her eye. On her face was a black domino mask, much like Robin's.

The girl was fighting the men with a metal pole she had substituted for a bo staff, and she was winning.

"I'm not letting her have all the fun!" Kid Flash said as he sped down to join the battle. The girl didn't seem surprised to see him join in. Instead, she looked up to where the rest of the squad was hiding, just for a moment, and then went back to fighting.

"Well, if he's in, I'm in." Blue Beetle flew out of the rafters and started hitting men with his plasma cannon.

Beast Boy and Static looked to Robin for orders. Robin sighed. "Come on, let's go," he said resignedly. They looked more than happy to be out of the rafters, and in a flash, they were also fighting. Robin shook his head, and finally joined in.

Towards the end of the battle, when almost all of the henchmen were down, the girl and a particularly large man were fighting. He pulled out a knife, grabbed her, and held it to her throat. "Heroes!" he shouted in a raspy voice. "You let us leave, or else she'll-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. The girl, in one swift movement, grabbed his knife, pushed it away from her throat, and used his arms almost as a gymnast would use a bar to flip, swinging her legs into his face, knocking him out. She landed safely on the ground, observing the warehouse. All of the henchmen were knocked out. Only Robin and his squad remained upright.

"Who are you?" Kid Flash asked. "This was supposed to be our mission, and you took half the fun out of it!"

"Well," the girl replied, "you still had half of the fun." Everyone gave her a weird look. "You said I took half the fun out, which means that you would still have the other half. It's basic math." The girl spoke with little emotion in her voice, other than a hint of sarcasm. She eerily reminded Robin of Batman, only younger, and female.

Up close, the girl was about 5'1''. Robin hadn't seen anyone like her before.

"Besides," the girl continued, "it's my city."

"Whatever," Kid Flash huffed.

"I'm gonna repeat what Kid said: who are you?" said Static.

"I call myself Goldfinch," said Goldfinch. She made no move to shake hands with anyone. She just stood there, arms crossed.

"What's your real name?" asked Blue Beetle. "Your secret identity."

"I don't feel obligated to share that information with you, at least not at this time," Goldfinch said.

"Well, that's fine for now, I guess," said Beast Boy. "I'm Beast-"

"Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Static, Robin, and Kid Flash, formerly known as Impulse," said Goldfinch, pointing to each person as she said their names.

"Wait, how'd you know I use to be Impulse?" Kid Flash asked.

"There are many things I know, Bart Allen. I know things about every hero that they would rather not have me knowing."

Everyone was in shock. This girl knew Kid Flash's identity? It seemed surreal.

"Do you know anyone else's identity?" Robin asked. He was afraid to hear the answer.

Goldfinch nodded. "I know everyone's identity. It took me a while, but I found out all of the Justice League's and the Team's identities by the time I was eleven, not including members added after that."

"And how old are you now?" Robin asked.

"Fourteen."

Robin thought to himself. If they brought the girl back, she could attack them. That was something he didn't want to happen, especially after seeing her fight the men that were twice her size with ease. He didn't want to leave her, either. If they did, she could still pose a threat, since she supposedly knew the identities of the entire Justice League, not to mention the Team.

"We need to talk," Robin said to his squad mates. Once they were in a huddle, hopefully out of Goldfinch's earshot, Robin said "I think we should take her back to the Watchtower with us."

"Are you serious?" said Kid Flash.

"Well, it's not much of a secret now, with G. Gordon broadcasting its existence worldwide," said Blue Beetle.

"We don't really have much of a choice, do we?" said Beast Boy. "If we leave her, she could tell people our secret identities."

"That's what I was thinking," said Robin.

"Sounds like it's settled. We're taking her back with us," said Static.

They turned to Goldfinch. "We've decided to take you with us back to the Watchtower," announced Robin.


	2. Chapter 2

Robin, Kid Flash, Beast Boy, Static, and Blue Beetle led Goldfinch to the Bio-ship. Gar had tried making conversation with her, but she merely responded with a simple "Yes," or "No." Bart also tried playing 20 questions with her (which was more like 1,000 questions when it came to him), but again, Goldfinch either ignored him completely or answered with one word responses.

They piled into the Bio-ship. Robin radioed ahead to Batman to let him know of their situation. The boys all sat down in their seats, and the seat belts came over them on their own. Static jumped a little when his came over him. Goldfinch showed no emotion towards the seatbelts.

"How are you not surprised by that?" Virgil asked. "_I'm _still getting used to these things!"

"Not much surprises me anymore. I've seen too many things for that to happen."

Virgil grumbled a little at her response, but said nothing more.

Robin piloted the Bio-ship into the sky, going up into the atmosphere, all the way to an area just outside of Earth's orbit. He steered the ship into the Watchtower. They landed safely, and exited the Bio-ship.

As they walked through the halls, Goldfinch looked at everything, her head turning as they passed doors and hallways. Her expression wasn't one of awe, but one of interest, as if they were walking through a museum.

Bart noticed this, and grinned. "Just wait until you see this one window we have! You can look out and see outer space. It's crazy!"

"Technically, you can look up into the sky and look into outer space."

Bart frowned at her remark. "Whatever."

They finally made it to the meeting room, where Batman, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and Black Canary were waiting. M'gann, Connor, and Kaldur were there as well.

"I assume this is Goldfinch?" Batman asked. The way he said it wasn't really a question, but more of a statement. He looked her over, almost as if he expected her to do something extraordinary. She did nothing but cross her arms and narrow her eyes. "Hmm. J'onn and I will interrogate her." With that, he turned and walked down a hall, J'onn at his side. Goldfinch followed them silently without being told.

Once they left, M'gann set up a telepathic link with members of the team. _Wow. She's certainly...something._

Connor nodded. _If what you guys told us is true, she could be a valuable ally. _

_Or a dangerous enemy, _Kaldur warned.

_I personally think she's a killjoy!_

_Thanks for your valuable input, Bart, _said Jaime, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

_Is there any way we'll be able to know we can trust her? _Virgil asked. _She seems pretty smart, so wouldn't that make her a pretty good liar?_

_It might, _Robin said. _There's no way to know for sure unless we find out the details from the interrogation._

_Let's go watch it then! Sure, we can't hear it, but it could help us somehow. Right?_

_Bart, that was the best idea you've had all day, _Jaime said. _Let's go._

M'gann broke the link. They heard the last bits of Black Canary and Zatanna's conversation.

"...so that means no magic?"

"Pretty much. I'd be able to tell instantly if she was a powerful sorcerer. Clearly, she's not. There's a slim chance that I didn't pick up any traces of magic off of her, but like I said, the odds are slim."

Their voices drifted off as they walked away. Connor cleared his throat. "Let's go watch an interrogation."

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><p>Goldfinch was seated across a table from Batman and the Martain Manhunter. Batman had been staring at her for the past few minutes before he broke his silence.<p>

"I want to know how, when, and why you discovered the identities of the entire Justice League and our Covert Operations team."

Goldfinch sighed. "I won't tell you how, or why. Maybe later, if I feel comfortable with it. I _will, _however, tell you when. I was twelve when I unmasked the identities of both rosters. Of course, when new faces were added, I unmasked them as well." She leaned forward, her elbows against the table, staring at Batman. "Unmasking you and each protégé of yours that came along was difficult. But when I discovered who you were, all the others were so easy to deduce."

Batman narrowed his eyes. "And who _am _I?"

She turned to the Martain Manhunter. "I suggest establishing a telepathic link, in case of any eavesdroppers." She looked pointedly at the one-way window on the wall to her right.

J'onn established the link almost immediately.

_You're Bruce Wayne_, she said simply, as if it were obvious.

Batman narrowed his eyes. _Terminate the link. _He and J'onn appeared to be having a private conversion, most likely about her and whether or not to trust her. To determine if they trusted her, they would have the Martian look into her mind- something Goldfinch couldn't afford to have happen. She began preparing mental barriers.

Not a moment after she was ready, Goldfinch felt the Martian's powerful mind attempt to enter hers. Immediately, she fought against it, not offensively, but in defense. She allowed him to see her greatest fears, and only that, for she believed it would benefit her greatly if she showed vulnerability instead of strength.

Her tactics must have been successful, because the Martian withdrew. The ordeal left Goldfinch drained both mentally and physically. Her head ached, her palms were sweaty, and her thought process seemed slower than usual. She forced herself to ignore this and focus on the task at hand.

"Pyrophobia and arachnephobia? Why those?" asked the Martian.

"I've always been terrified of spiders, and as for fire..." her voice trailed off as she remembered the inferno that had surrounded her. "I have my reasons."

"I must also make a note on your...surprising mental strength. The only person who you've come close to in terms of mental strength would be Batman himself."

"Did you conclude if we can trust her?"

Martian Manhunter nodded. "I believe you shall prove a powerful ally, Goldfinch." He shook hands with her and left the interrogation room.

Goldfinch walked to the door, but was stopped by Batman. "You do realize that I will eventually find out who you are, correct?"

"I'm aware. I suppose I assumed that if I kept who _you_ were a secret, you'd keep who _I_ really am a secret."

Batman gave her a nod. "You assumed correctly." He allowed Goldfinch to leave the room, and they walked back to the meeting room, side by side.

"I also assumed that that interrogation was only the first of a few tests?"

"You're correct again."

"What will the next one be?"

"An IQ test."


End file.
